Trump justifies abandoning the Kurds because “they didn’t help us” in World War II !!

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CNN Replay S13:E448 -

Defector who brought proof of Syrian brutality demands the US act now

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One Syrian man risked everything to expose the atrocities committed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. Now, he is pleading with Congress to take action. CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.

Warning: Graphic images

https://cnn.it/2OtApAs



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Trump justifies abandoning the Kurds because “they didn’t help us” in World War II:eek2:

In an utterly bizarre and disgraceful attempt to justify his abhorrent decision to abandon our Kurdish allies to Turkish tank treads, Trump complained in public remarks today that the Kurds somehow deserved it because…they didn’t help us in the Second World War.



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The unrecognized and divided land of Kurdistan stretches from southeast Turkey, northwest Syria, northern Iraq, and western Iran. None of those places are anywhere near Normandy or Vietnam.


Add your name to tell Congress to investigate Pence for his role in Trump’s Ukraine corruption. The VP is complicit!

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This entire discussion is absolutely absurd. While it’s par for the course for Donald Trump to victim-shame the recipients of his abuse, for him to seemingly blame the Rojavan Kurds for their own invasion because they didn’t help us during the Second World War is just insanity.

While in Trump’s world, everything is part of a quid pro quo that benefits himself, the United States stands for different principles, and the Founding Fathers would weep at seeing our values of supporting democracy and our friends being mortgaged by Trump because he feels they haven’t fulfilled some preposterous debt to us — which they absolutely have done ten times over by liberating the majority of northern Syria from ISIS! WHICH HE TAKES CREDIT FOR!

Of course, he didn’t come up with this idea himself. Daily Beast jounalist Will Sommers discovered that the idea originated in a column by right-wing racist blowhard Kurt Schlicter, who shamefully reduces the many years spent and tens of thousands of lives lost by the Kurdish YPG in their fight to cleanse northern Syria of the ISIS menace to “would have fought them anyway.”


Will Sommer

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https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1182037988315934728

Trump appears to have gotten his "Kurds didn't help us at Normandy" line from a Kurt Schlichter column. https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2019/10/08/critics-aghast-as-trump-keeps-word-about-no-more-wars-n2554328 …



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The idea that the southeast-Turkey based Kurdistan Worker’s Party (the PKK) and the northern Syria-based Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), along with its People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) are one and the same is a Turkish government talking point used to justify the use of oppression, violence, and ethnic cleansing against both groups.

The PKK have been waging a separatist war against the Turkish government for decades, and while they have committed some terrible acts of terrorism against mainly Turkish military targets, the Turkish government and the far-right ultranationalist terror group that calls itself the “Gray Wolves” have committed unspeakable mass killings of Kurds and other ethnic minorities on and off since the end of the Armenian genocide.

It is beyond any kind of rational comprehension of why Trump would think this was a valid argument to justify one of the worst betrayals in American military history, but it’s clear that as his impeachment proceedings unfold, he’s losing all semblance of his sanity and all pretense at caring about America’s place in the world.
 

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Thursday, Oct 10, 2019 | View in browser
Good morning.


We’re covering the latest developments in Turkey’s operation against the Kurds in Syria, an anti-Semitic attack in Germany, and Apple’s decision to remove an appthat had angered China.
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By Chris Stanford

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Civilians fled from Turkey’s assault in the Ras al-Ain area of northeastern Syria on Wednesday. Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


U.S. military fears it’s seen this before


By allowing Turkey to attack America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, the U.S. risks repeating a scenario that helped pave the way for the Iraq war, according to military and national security officials.

“It takes time to build trust,” said Paul Eaton, a retired major general and veteran of the Iraq war. “And any time you erode trust, like this, it’s that much harder to bring it back.”

At the end of the Persian Gulf war nearly 30 years ago, the U.S. allowed Saddam Hussein to crush insurgents in Iraq, including Kurdish groups, leaving him in power until the U.S. invaded more than a decade later.

Catch up: At least 16 Kurds were reported to have been killed in Turkey’s assault in Syria, a monitoring group said today. The attack on the Kurds, a crucial American ally in the fight against the Islamic State, came days after President Trump agreed to let the operation proceed. Here’s a quick look at the history behind the conflict.

What’s next: It’s too soon to say what will happen, but Pentagon officials express fear that Turkey’s incursion into Syria could lead to the release of tens of thousands of ISIS fighters and the return of the self-proclaimed caliphate that the U.S. and its partners have spent the past five years destroying.

Related: The American military was working to remove as many as several dozen Islamic State detainees from Syria. The U.S. already has two British men in custody who tortured and killed Western hostages, according to officials.

Response: Mr. Trump said Turkey’s offensive, which has prompted criticism in Congress, was “a bad idea” but reiterated his opposition to “senseless wars.” He also said that the Kurds had fought with the U.S. only out of self-interest, and that “they didn’t help us in the Second World War.”


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Trump promised to defend Kurdish territory just a year before withdrawing U.S. forces

‘Don’t forget, that’s their territory. We have to help them.’ — Trump praised Kurdish forces and promised to defend their lands just one year before abandoning the U.S. ally to encroaching Turkish aggression
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Turkey's Syria offensive explained in four maps

9 October 2019


Turkish military convoy in Kilis, near the border with Syria (9 October 2019)
Image copyrightREUTERS


Turkey has launched a military operation against Kurdish-led forces in north-eastern Syria, days after US troops pulled back from the border.
These maps help explain the offensive and its potential consequences.


Who are the Kurds?
The Kurdish population is spread across four countries - Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.
Map showing Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran

Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of Syria's population. For decades, they were suppressed and denied basic rights by President Bashar al-Assad and, before him, his father Hafez.

Before the uprising against Mr Assad began in 2011 most Kurds lived in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, and in three northern areas near the Turkish border - Afrin in the west, Kobane (Ain al-Arab) in the centre, and Qamishli in the east.

When the uprising evolved into a civil war, the main Kurdish parties avoided taking sides. In 2012, government forces withdrew from Kurdish areas to concentrate on fighting rebel factions elsewhere, and Kurdish militias took control in their wake.

Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militiamen at a parade in Qamishli on 28 March 2019
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionThe People's Protection Units (YPG) is the biggest militia in north-east Syria

In late 2014, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) launched an assault on Kobane. The battle sparked alarm across the world and a US-led multinational coalition against IS intervened by carrying out air strikes. After the militants retreated, the Kurds became the coalition's most critical partner on the ground in Syria.

The biggest Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Units (YPG), formed an alliance with local Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2015. With the help of coalition airpower, weaponry and advisers, SDF fighters drove IS out of a quarter of Syria and captured its last pocket of territory in the country in March 2019. They also set up an "autonomous administration" to govern the region.

Why does Turkey want to launch military action?
Turkey has long threatened to launch a military operation in SDF-held territory to create a 32km (20-mile) deep "safe zone" running for 480km (300 miles) along the Syrian side of the border.
Map showing control of north-eastern Syria and Turkey's proposed safe zone

It wants to push back members of the YPG, which it views as an extension of a Kurdish rebel group that has been fighting in Turkey for decades and is designated a terrorist organisation. Turkey also hopes to resettle at least 1 million of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is currently hosting in the zone.
In an attempt to avert an offensive, the US military agreed in August to set up with the Turkish military a "security mechanism" in the border area. The YPG co-operated, withdrawing heavy weapons and dismantling fortifications.

US President Donald Trump receives a briefing from military leaders at the White House on 7 October 2019
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionPresident Donald Trump says US troops will not support the Turkish operation

But on 6 October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump that a cross-border operation would "soon be moving forward", the White House said. Mr Trump responded by saying US troops based in the area would not support or be involved in the operation, and would withdraw, it added.

The SDF reacted angrily to Mr Trump's decision, warning that an "unprovoked attack" by Turkey would "have a negative impact on our fight against [IS] and the stability and peace we have created in the region".

"We are determined to defend our land at all costs," it added.

It is thought that the Turkish operation will focus initially on a 100km stretch of the border between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, which is a sparsely populated, mostly Arab area.


What will be the impact?
The area falling within Turkey's "safe zone" is fertile plain that once served as Syria's breadbasket. It is dotted with dozens of villages and towns, unlike the barren, desert regions to the south. The city of Qamishli, part of which remains under Syrian government control, had a population of 200,000 before the war.

Satellite map showing settlements in north-eastern Syria

The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organisation, said the region currently under SDF control was home to about 2 million civilians who had "already survived [IS] brutality and multiple displacements".

"A military offensive could immediately displace at least 300,000 people and disrupt life-saving humanitarian services," it tweeted on 7 October.

Syrian Kurdish women protest against Turkey's plans for a military operation, in the town of Qahtaniya, Syria (7 October 2019)
Image copyrightAFPImage captionSyrianKurds protested against Turkey's plans for a safe zone
Save the Children said 1.65 million civilians were in need of humanitarian assistance in the region, including more than 650,000 displaced by war.


The UN's Regional Co-ordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis, said it had made contingency plans to assist civilians forced to flee their homes by an offensive.

Any military operation had to take the effects on civilians into account, he warned, adding: "We are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst".
Mr Moumtzis said the UN had a "bitter history" with the concept of safe zones and that it never encouraged their creation, citing the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995.


Is there a risk to other people in camps?

Thousands of displaced Syrians are living in temporary camps people - many south of the Turkish border.

The families of suspected IS members are being held at three of them.

Map showing population of camps for displaced people in north-eastern Syria

Roj and Ain Issa, which are home to 1,700 and 12,900 people respectively in May 2019, would both be located inside Turkey's proposed "safe zone".

Al-Hol, which is by far the biggest such camp with more than 68,000 residents, is about 60km from Turkey and so would not be in the zone. More than 94% of the people at al-Hol are women and children, and 11,000 are foreign nationals.

Al-Hol displaced people camp in Syria (1 April 2019)
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionSome 70,000 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group are detained at al-Hol camp

The SDF says that it is detaining more than 12,000 men suspected of being IS members in seven prisons. At least 4,000 of the prisoners are foreign nationals. Some of the prisons are reportedly close to the Turkish border.

Mr Trump told Mr Erdogan that Turkish troops would be responsible for securing detained IS fighters in areas they captured, according to the White House. The SDF has said its fighters will continue to guard the prisons and camps, but there is a concern they could be called away to other areas or be forced to flee if attacked.


 

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Turkey-Syria offensive: 'Hundreds' of IS relatives escape camp

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Media captionAmira, Heba and Hamza are stranded, in danger and they want to come home


Hundreds of foreigners affiliated with the Islamic State group (IS) have escaped from a camp in northern Syria amid a Turkish offensive, Kurdish officials say.

They say detainees attacked gates at the Ain Issa displacement camp as fighting raged nearby.
Turkey launched an assault last week aimed at driving Kurdish-led forces from the region.

The UN says 130,000 people have fled their homes, and the figure may rise.
Turkey accuses the Kurds of being terrorists and says it wants to force them away from a "safe zone" reaching some 30km into Syria.


It also plans to resettle more than three million Syrian refugees who are currently in Turkey inside the zone.

President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from the area effectively triggered the Turkish incursion against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - the main Western allies in the fight against IS.

Separately on Sunday, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper told CBS News the US was now preparing to evacuate about 1,000 troops who remain in northern Syria.


What happened at Ain Issa?
Details of the escape are still emerging - a monitoring group put the number who fled at 100, but Kurdish authorities say almost 800 relatives of foreign IS members have escaped.


Ain Issa holds about 12,000 displaced people, previously including nearly 1,000 foreign women and children with jihadist links.

It is reportedly now empty of foreign women, according to charity Save the Children, which says "foreign masked men on motorbikes are circling the camp".

BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says it's unclear where the detainees might have gone, if their escape is confirmed.

Sara al-Abdullah carries an orphan at a camp in the northern Syrian village of Ain Issa, on 26 September 2019.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionAin Issa camp has been host to hundreds of children of suspected IS members

But it gives new force to the Kurds' exasperated threat that they cannot guarantee the security of the thousands of IS suspects they hold in the face of the Turkish offensive, our correspondent adds.

"Whoever cares about the secure detention of the prisoners, they are welcome to come and find a solution," senior official Redur Xelil said, warning the Turkish operation was opening the way for IS to regroup.
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Media captionThe BBC's Martin Patience explains what's behind the conflict

The SDF says it is currently holding more than 12,000 suspected IS members in seven prisons, and at least 4,000 of them are foreign nationals. The exact locations have not been revealed, but some are reportedly close to the Turkish border.

IS has claimed recent car bombings and on Saturday declared a new campaign in Syria, which it said was to avenge its members' detention in Kurdish-run prisons.

Turkey says it will take responsibility for IS prisoners it finds during its offensive.


How is the offensive developing?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that his military forces and allied Syrian rebels had seized control of the key border town of Ras al-Ain and besieged the town of Tal Abyad, some 120km (75 miles) away.

However, SDF officials said they had pushed Turkish forces back to the outskirts of Ras al-Ain. They also reported fierce clashes around Tal Abyad, and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group said Turkey was in almost complete control there.

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Media captionTurkey-backed rebels claimed part of Ras al-Ain on Saturday

Both areas are key goals in the Turkish offensive against the Kurdish-led SDF forces.

Elsewhere, Turkey's Anadolu news agency said Turkish-backed Syrian rebels had seized complete control of Suluk, a town to the south-east of Tal Abyad - though the SDF forces have also denied this.

Map of northern Syria
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What are the casualty figures?
They're rising, with civilians killed on both sides of the border:
  • At least 38 civilians and more than 80 Kurdish fighters killed, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says
  • Seventeen civilians killed in southern Turkey, including a Syrian baby, according to Turkish reports
  • Nearly 50 fighters with the pro-Turkish rebels, known as the Syrian National Army, and at least one Turkish soldier killed
A female Kurdish politician and women's rights activist was among nine civilians killed on a road in northern Syria on Saturday, the SOHR said.
Hervin Khalaf, secretary general of the Future Syria Party, was ambushed and shot dead along with a driver and an aide after returning from a meeting in Hassakeh, her party said.

A spokesman for the Turkish-backed rebel group the Syrian National Army denied carrying out the killings, saying it had not advanced that far, Reuters reported.


What's the international reaction?
Pressure is building on Turkey to halt its operation.
On Saturday, France said it would suspend all weapons exports to Turkey. Germany earlier announced it was reducing its arms sales to the Nato ally.
But President Erdogan told reporters on Sunday these measures would not stop Turkey's military offensive.
"Those who think they can make Turkey turn back with these threats are gravely mistaken," he said.
A Turkish-backed Syrian fighter fires a gun during an assault on Kurdish-held territory
Image copyrightAFPImage captionFierce clashes are taking place in northern Syria

The Kurds have made clear they feel betrayed by Mr Trump's withdrawal of US forces. He now says he wants the US to negotiate a truce between Turkey and the Kurds.

President Trump has suggested he would be prepared to use sanctions against Turkey if necessary.




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Go There E43 - Inside a forgotten refugee camp in Syria, ISIS wives and widows are grooming the
 

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Pentagon's unwinnable wars have bankrupted America since Vietnam War.

Remember Nixon said in 1971 he just "temporarily shut down the gold window" at the Fed?

In fact, Congress had to pressure the UK, Germany and Japan not to convert their USD into gold in 1968. Because Fort Knox ran out of gold in 1968!

By 1978, Ford finally legalized the death of Bretton Woods Agreement.

America has been broke for 51 years.

The Emperor is naked without new clothes.
 

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Trump has profited off Turkey for years, making as much as $17 million off Trump Towers Istanbul in the last 7 years

 

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A turning point in the Syrian war ?


Syrian troops entered Kurdish-controlled territory today for the first time in years after a deal between the government and Kurdish leaders.


The agreement came in the face of a Turkish invasion and President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops who had long fought alongside the Kurds against the Islamic State. Here are the latest updates.


The American pullback effectively cedes control of the region to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria — who is supported by Iran and Russia — and jeopardizes hard-won gains against ISIS.


Related: The Kurds have operated detention sites in northern Syria that held about 11,000 ISIS fighters, whose fate is now unclear. The U.S. had been working to get dozens of high-value detainees out of northern Syria, but has extracted only two.


The Daily: Today’s episode is about the commander of the Kurdish-led militia.


Another angle: The Russian Air Force has repeatedly bombed Syrian hospitals to crush resistance to Mr. Assad, according to a video investigation by The Times.
 

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Kurdish forces (formerly backed by US) strike deal with Syria's Assad, in major shift in 8-year war


By Helen Regan and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
Updated 8:08 AM EDT, Mon October 14, 2019



article video



(CNN

Abandoned by the United States and facing a deepening Turkish military offensive, Kurdish forcesnear the northern Syrian border have struck a deal with the Syrian government, marking a major shift in the country's eight-year war.

On Monday, Syrian troops were reportedly advancing north towards the border to confront Turkish forces, returning for the first time in years to a region where the Kurds had established relative autonomy, and further solidifying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the country.

The agreement between Damascus and the Kurds comes as US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of all remaining American forces out of northern Syria. The move signals a departure from long-standing US counter-terrorism strategy in Syria, which hinged on a close partnership with Kurdish-led forces to combat ISIS.

In discontinuing that approach, the Trump administration has effectively ceded influence in northern Syria to Assad and his allies and raised the specter of a resurgent ISIS.
Over recent days, Kurdish authorities have reported the escape of hundreds of ISIS family members from a camp in northern Syria, and warned that ISIS militants held in prisons could be next to go if fighting with Turkish forces continues to escalate.

View this interactive content on CNN.com

The situation began to deteriorate last week when the Trump administration ordered US troops to step aside from the border in northern Syria, effectively paving the way for Turkey to launch its offensive against the Kurds, who they regard as enemies.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who operate in the area are led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization affiliated with the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the incursion into Syria is aimed at clearing a "safe zone" along the border to resettle some two million Syrian refugees currently hosted in Turkey.

But there are growing concerns over the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Turkey's path, as Kurdish-controlled towns come under heavy fire, key border towns are seized and main roads are cut off.

Amid the chaos over the weekend, a grisly video began circulating on social media that appeared to show the execution-style killing of a prominent Kurdish politician, as well as her driver, members of Kurdish security forces and several civilians by Turkish-backed militants.

The Free Syrian Army or FSA (also called the Syrian National Army), have denied those claims. CNN could not independently verify the video.

View this interactive content on CNN.com


Assad's soldiers helping Kurdish forces

On Sunday, the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and Eastern Syria said it reached an agreement with the Syrian government to deploy troops along the entirety of Syrian-Turkish border.

Units from the Syrian Army were moving towards the north Sunday night to "oppose the Turkish aggression" on Syrian territory, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

The new agreement between the Kurds and Damascus represents a new chapter in the eight-year Syrian war, and one that is throwing up changing alliances in an area already saturated with infighting.

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and Eastern Syria said Sunday that the Syrian government had the duty of protecting its borders and sovereignty.

"This agreement offers an opportunity to liberate the rest of the Syrian territories and cities occupied by the Turkish army as Afrin and other Syrian cities and towns," the statement said.

The deal means that Kurdish forces, who were considered vital US allies in the fight against ISIS, would be fighting alongside allies of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, which the US opposes.
The Syrian government has not commented on such an agreement.

Russia will likely welcome a full US troop withdrawal. As allies of the Assad regime, Moscow could gain greater leverage in the region.

ISIS families escape from camp

But the offensive threatens gains made against ISIS.

Kurdish authorities claim Turkey's offensive has led to the escape of "785 people affiliated with foreign ISIS fighters" from the Ain Issa camp. The camp mainly houses internally displaced people and some ISIS family members.

According to a statement posted on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Facebook page, "ISIS elements attacked the camp guards, opened the gates and escaped." CNN is unable to verify the claims.

Erdogan called the reports of an escape "disinformation" in order to "provoke the US and Europe," Turkish news agency Anadolu reports.
Trump has railed against European countries for not taking back their nationals who left to join the extremist group. "The US has the worst of the ISIS prisoners. Turkey and the Kurds must not let them escape. Europe should have taken them back after numerous requests. They should do it now." Trump tweeted Sunday.


Smoke billows from targets in Tel Abyad, Syria, during bombardment by Turkish forces, on Friday, October 11.

Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters drive an armored personnel carrier across the border into Syria on October 11.



In photos: Turkey launches military offensive in Syria
Smoke billows from targets in Tel Abyad, Syria, during bombardment by Turkish forces, on Friday, October 11.
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Trump has also dismissed the overall threat of ISIS escapees, saying last week, "Well, they're going to be escaping to Europe."


A European intelligence official questioned the Syrian regime and Russia's readiness and willingness to take foreign ISIS fighters into custody.

"There is a high chance fighters or their families could attempt to come back to Europe. They could also try and retake the land of the caliphate, disappear back in to ungoverned territory to regroup or a combination of all of that. Dealing with the last two would be a major challenge without a committed ground force as you can't just use air power," the official said.

The official added that it was unlikely the SDF would trust the West again.

An American official, expressing anger over the recent developments, told CNN that in his opinion US policy had "failed," and that the nation and its allies "are now facing new threats at home and abroad."

"ISIS has a second life and our geo-political allies are the ones who have the advantage," said the official, speaking candidly in a personal capacity about the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. "Russia and (the Syrian) regime will take back all of the territory and Iran has freedom of movement across the region."

'Blood on Trump's hands'

article video


More than 150,000 people have been displaced from border areas around Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
As roads flood with families trying to escape the offensive, criticism has been leveled at Trump for pulling troops out of the area thereby helping to provide a de facto go ahead for the Turkish attack.
Retired US four-star Marine Gen. John Allen on Sunday said, "There is blood on Trump's hands for abandoning our Kurdish allies."

The former commander of American forces in Afghanistan and former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS under the Obama administration, told CNN the unfolding crisis in Syria was "completely foreseeable" and "the US green lighted it."

"There was no chance Erdogan would keep his promise, and full blown ethnic cleansing is underway by Turkish supported militias," he said. "This is what happens when Trump follows his instincts and because of his alignment with autocrats."

The Trump administration has insisted Turkey would have proceeded with their offensive regardless of whether US troops had remained and that the US has not deserted the Syrian Kurds.


CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne, Kareem Khadder, Jennifer Deaton, Sharif Paget, and Jomana Karadsheh contributed.


 

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Trump has delivered what Russia wants in Syria
— at zero cost —
and 'Putin likely can't believe his luck'


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  • Russian President Vladimir "Putin likely can't believe his luck" at US President Donald Trump's withdrawal of US troops from the Kurdish region on the border of Syria and Turkey, a Western military official from the anti-ISIS coalition told Insider.
  • Syrian troops entering Kurdish-held Rojava represents a massive victory for not only Syrian President Bashar Assad but Putin and the Iranians, who had long demanded that the Americans withdraw from the corridor that links northern Iraq with eastern Syria.
  • "Putin continues to get whatever he wants and generally doesn't even have to do much," a NATO official told Insider. "He got to sit back and watch the Turks and the Americans unravel five years of success, and not only did it not cost him anything, he didn't even have to try to make it happen. Small wonder he'd interfere on Trump's side in an election."


Syrian President Bashar Assad - backed by his Russian patrons - moved on Monday to exploit the collapse of the US military presence in northeastern Syria by driving troops into the previously autonomous region managed by a Kurdish-dominated militia that had been under American protection for five years.

The unlikely sequence of events began earlier this month after President Donald Trump ended US opposition to a Turkish offensive into Syria during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The call ended the US mission to fight the terrorist group ISIS and reduce Iranian and Russian influence in war-shattered Syria. And it left Tehran, Moscow, and Damascus with a huge victory that required little more than watching the American presence disappear on its own.

Because of the Turkish invasion and the American pullout, Syria is wide open to return to Assad's control
Russian President Vladimir "Putin likely can't believe his luck," said a Western military official from the anti-ISIS coalition who recently served in Syria. "A third of Syria was more or less free of ISIS, and its security was good without any involvement of the regime or Russia, and now because of the Turkish invasion and American pullout, this area is wide open to return to government control.


"What was supposed to be a diplomatically complex issue that would have involved US and European military power suddenly got as simple as sending in tanks and units unopposed throughout the eastern third of Syria," said the official, who did not have permission to speak to the media.
Syrian government troops entering Rojava without a fight represents a massive victory for not only Assad but Putin and the Iranians, who had long demanded the Americans withdraw from the strategically critical corridor that links northern Iraq with eastern Syria.

With the Americans out of the way, the portion of government-controlled Syria is likely to increase by about a third, including key ground transport lines and the large oil fields around Deir al-Zour.

"Putin continues to get whatever he wants and generally doesn't even have to do much," the NATO official said. "He got to sit back and watch the Turks and the Americans unravel five years of success, and not only did it not cost him anything, he didn't even have to try to make it happen. Small wonder he'd interfere on Trump's side in an election."
 

MCP

International
International Member
Trump Turned His Back on Syrian Kurds. Here’s How They View Their New Precarious Position.


https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2019/10/AP_19122414817825-1570562026-e1570562137233.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90&fit=crop&w=1440&h=720

A U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighter talks on his radio at a check point near Omar oil field base in eastern Syria on Feb. 24, 2019. Photo: Felipe Dana/AP


Sherin Tamo remembers watching the U.S. airstrikes hit the Syrian town of Kobane from across the border in Turkey. It was September 2014, and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria had laid siege to the border town from three sides. Turkey had refused to let reinforcements through the border but let residents like Tamo escape. She watched from the Turkish side of the border as ISIS pressed farther and farther into the majority Kurdish area. Then came the U.S.

On September 27, the U.S.-led coalition began a massive, prolonged, and deadly bombing campaign in Syria, targeting ISIS units around Kobane and initiating a partnership with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, known by their Kurdish initials YPG, that would go on to become arguably the most effective force against ISIS. “When we heard the U.S. airstrikes, we were very happy,” recalled Tamo, a Kurdish resident of Kobane. “We applauded with every airstrike on our city by saying, ‘Let our houses collapse over their heads, ISIS.’”

That partnership may now be nearing a tumultuous end as President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to grant an apparent green light for a Turkish invasion of northern Syria opened the door to a potential humanitarian catastrophe. In the latest of a long line of American betrayals of the Kurds, a White House press release issued late Sunday night, apparently following a phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan, said, “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria.”

The northeastern Syrian region is administered by a Kurdish-led faction, the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, that did much of the heavy lifting on the ground during the U.S.-led coalition war against ISIS. Widely praised for their role in battling ISIS, the Kurdish forces may now be on their own — and facing a daunting battle against their historic foes in the Turkish government. “The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation,” said the White House statement, “and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area.”
The apparent about-face from the U.S. — though its exact contours are unclear, owing to typical Trump administration chaos — has left erstwhile allies among Syria’s Kurds with an intense sense of apprehension. A Turkish invasion could devastate the region, reshape its demography, and force a new geopolitical realignment among Kurds that would set back their push for autonomy to the days before the Syrian civil war. Like some Western analysts, the Kurds are worried about the long-term security consequences under de facto Turkish rule — not least how Erdogan’s government, with its own complicated relationship to extremists fighting in Syria, deals with the remnants of ISIS.

Syrian Kurdish demonstrators flash the V for victory sign as they march in the northeastern city of Qamishli on August 27, 2019 during a protest against Turkish threats to invade the Kurdish region. - The Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria said Tuesday their forces had started to withdraw from outposts along the Turkish border after a US-Turkish deal for a buffer zone there. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Syrian Kurdish demonstrators march in the northeastern city of Qamishli to protest against Turkish threats to invade the Kurdish region on Aug. 27, 2019.
Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images
“They Are Going to Destroy Our Region”

Kurds in northern Syria said they feel abandoned by the United States and fear the potential violence unleashed from a Turkish operation. “It’s a crazy decision to allow Turkey to attack Rojava,” said Mustafa Alali, using the Kurdish term for the region.

Alali, a journalist who also hails from Kobane, pointed to the sacrifices the Kurdish-led coalition has made in combating ISIS, citing an estimated 11,000 SDF fighters killed in the war. “The U.S. knows very well if Turkey attacks, they are going to destroy our region. They know this truth,” he said. “For Turkey, if you’re a Kurd, you’re a terrorist.”
The Turkish government has long agitated for an incursion into northeast Syria, pointing to the Kurdish-dominated SDF as a threat because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish organization outlawed in Turkey that has led a 40-year insurrection against the government.
“People feel terrible,” said Alali. “Everyone was not expecting [the U.S.] to allow the Turks to attack us, especially after what happened in Afrin with so many killed and arrested.” Afrin is a neighboring Syrian-Kurdish region invaded by Turkish forces in 2018. The aftermath of the invasion of Afrin saw alleged incidents of ethnic cleansing targeting Kurds, as well as vulnerable minorities like Yazidis and Christians.
“We’ve documented Turkish-backed factions arbitrarily arresting individuals, looting, harassing, and confiscating property with very little accountability. When these violations were raised with Turkey, they turned a blind eye,” said Sara Kayyali, a Syria researcher for Human Rights Watch, of Afrin.
Kayyali added that another Turkish incursion could worsen what is already the worst crisis of displacement in the world, where some 12 million have already been driven from their homes: “Syria is already facing a major displacement crisis as a result of the hostilities in the northwest and in Idlib. Any kind of instability is likely to increase this.”

Turkish soldiers prepare an armored vehicle as Turkish armed forces drive towards the border with Syria near Akcakale in Sanliurfa province on October 8, 2019. - Turkey said on October 8, 2019, it was ready for an offensive into northern Syria, while President Donald Trump insisted the United States had not abandoned its Kurdish allies who would be targeted in the assault. Trump has blown hot and cold since a surprise announcement two days before that Washington was pulling back 50 to 100 special operators from Syria's northern frontier. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP) (Photo by BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish soldiers prepare an armored vehicle as Turkish armed forces drive toward the border with Syria near Akcakale in Sanliurfa province on Oct. 8, 2019.
Photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
Forced Demographic Change

Among other threats, Kurds in northeastern Syria fear a Turkish-enforced program of forced demographic change accompanying any invasion. The Turkish government has made no secret of its plans to resettle millions of Syrian Arab refugees in a “safe zone” under its control in northern Syria.
Turkey is home to more than 3.6 million Syrians and anti-refugee sentiment has been gradually building, leading to incidents of rioting and physical assaults targeting Syrians. An invasion would open the door to removing refugees from Turkish territory and sending them back across the border, therefore diluting the Kurdish population there.
“For years, there have been millions of refugees living in Turkey, and public opinion is now overwhelmingly against their presence,” said Mohammed Salih, a Kurdish journalist and doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. “A Turkish invasion of Syria would open the door to sending those refugees back. This would boost Erdogan’s credentials with the Turkish electorate and also deal a heavy blow to the YPG and PKK, by creating an Arab ‘buffer zone’ in northern Syria.”

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters stand guard next to men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State group militants, near Baghouz, eastern Syria. The IS could get a new injection of life if conflict erupts between the Kurds and Turkey in northeast Syria as the U.S. pulls its troops back from the area. The White House has said Turkey will take over responsibility for the thousands of IS fighters captured during the long campaign that defeated the militants in Syria. But it’s not clear how that could happen. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters stand guard over men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State group militants, near Baghouz in eastern Syria, on Feb. 22, 2019.
Photo: Felipe Dana/AP
ISIS Revived

In addition to the humanitarian and political threats, a major war between Turkey and the SDF in northern Syria could breathe life back into ISIS’s largely sidelined insurgency. Thousands of ISIS prisoners are still being held in SDF custody, including many dead-end ISIS adherents at the al-Hol camp in the northeast.
Kurdish-led forces are already struggling to maintain control over these prisoners, some of whom are citizens of Western countries. Should the region descend into chaos, it would create a fertile new recruiting ground for extremists, while potentially allowing ISIS members in custody to break free. Maintaining the prisons that hold some 12,000 ISIS fighters has, in the words of one Kurdish general speaking to NBC News, become a “second priority.”

While Trump has boasted about defeating ISIS — including in his most recent statement green-lighting the Turkish invasion — he may well be laying the groundwork for the group’s return.
Fears of an extremist resurgence helped galvanize a pushback to Trump’s decision from current and former U.S. officials. Such fears have also been echoed by the Kurdish-led movements that fought ISIS and may now be on the brink of war with Turkey.
“Every single civilian is worried about the fate of the region — let’s keep in mind that any destabilization of the region will increase the strength of ISIS,” said Amjed Othman, a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the SDF. “These fighters and their families in camps in northeastern Syria are presenting a very dangerous situation. In case the SDF is dragged into military combat with Turkey, the presence of these terrorists, or any chaos, will be a dangerous situation for us, the region, and for international peace. Again, the U.S. is actually abandoning the fight against terrorism.”
The SDF general who spoke to NBC News also suggested a geopolitical shift, whereby Kurds in Syria’s northeast could turn to the government of Bashar al-Assad to protect their autonomy from current encroachment. Asked whether the SDF would now seek to ally with the Syrian government or Russian forces, Othman said, “For us, we will work with any side that accepts our demands.”
Distrust of the U.S.

Sherin Tamo, the Kurdish woman from Kobane, said some are still hopeful that Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops will be quickly reversed, as similar announcements have been in the past. His statements have nonetheless already shaken Kurds’ confidence in the U.S. “Local people no longer trust the United States,” she said. “They believe that Trump is temperamental in his remarks. They live hours of anxiety and then he comes out with a modified or opposite statement.”

Like many other residents of northern Syria, Tamo is now faced with the agonizing prospect of potentially fleeing her home in the face of a Turkish offensive. “I am between two fires if Turkey invades our regions,” she said, “my duty towards my city is to stay, and my duty as a mother to save my children.”
That offensive may yet be averted, but the feeling of bitterness and betrayal among Syrian Kurds — celebrated not long ago for their dogged resistance against ISIS — has left its mark.
“When the U.S. intervened in the war against ISIS, it did not find a better partner other than the Kurds. Syrian Kurds proved to be good allies for the U.S. And with the territorial defeat of ISIS, I think America doesn’t need the Kurds anymore,” Tamo said. “All people know is that the great powers only defend their interests.”
 

MASTERBAKER

༺ S❤️PER❤️ ᗰOD ༻
Super Moderator
Trump thought Turkey was bluffing and would never actually invade Syria, report says
Tom Porter

17 hours ago
5da43f8fcc4a0a115e7d22c2
trump erdogan turkey

President Donald Trump with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the UN General Assembly in New York City in September 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
  • President Donald Trump and senior officials had for the past two years assumed Turkey was bluffing and would never invade northern Syria, the news site Axios reported on Sunday.
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump on October 6 that he would go ahead with a planned military operation in the region, where the US's Kurdish allies had been fighting the terrorist group ISIS.
  • Trump announced a US troop withdrawal from the region shortly afterward. Even Erdogan was surprised by how quickly Trump made that decision, Axios reported.
  • Turkey's invasion of northern Syria has plunged the region into renewed chaos, with dozens of ISIS prisoners escaping detention and the Kurds striking a deal with Syrian President Bashar Assad to prevent further Turkish incursions.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump and his advisers had assumed that Turkey wouldn't follow through its threats to invade northern Syria, Axios reported on Sunday.


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Trump "had been calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bluff" for more than two years, the news site said, citing six sources with knowledge of the matter.
According to Axios, in previous conversations, Trump would tell Erdogan that the Turkish leader would have to "own whatever mess ensued" in the region and warned of the US presence there, and Erdogan would back down on his threats.
But having waited for US forces and their Kurdish allies — whom Turkey sees as terrorists and has long called for the destruction of — to defeat the terrorist group ISIS in the region, Erdogan sensed the US's commitment waning, Axios reported.
Erdogan

Erdogan has long threatened to invade northern Syria to beat Kurdish forces. Murad Sezer / Reuters
In an October 6 phone call, Erdogan appeared to challenge Trump's opposition to the plan. After Erdogan told the US president that a planned Turkish military operation would go ahead, Trump abruptly ordered the withdrawal of US forces from the region.

But according to Axios, even Erdogan was surprised by how quickly Trump acceded to his demands. He had expected Trump to push back and broker a compromise, the news site reported.
Read more: Trump's abrupt decision to pull out of Syria was reportedly made 'instinctively' at the end of his call with Turkey's president
The White House did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the Axios report.
syria kurds turkey

A Turkish-backed Syrian fighter fires during clashes in the border town of Ras al-Ain on Sunday. Nazeer Al-khatib / AFP) (Photo by NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images
The Turkish military's invasion of northern Syria has sparked a humanitarian crisis, seen dozens of "high value" prisoners loyal to ISIS escape detention, and forced the Kurds to strike a deal with Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and its Russian backers to beat back Turkey.

The Syrian government and its Russian allies are longstanding US antagonists in the Syrian war, which has spilled into its eighth year.
Trump has faced fierce criticism, including from some of his closest Republican allies, for the decision to withdraw troops from Syria. He has defended the move as part of his campaign promise to halt US involvement in what he has termed the "forever wars" in the Middle East that the US has been involved in since 9/11.
Read more: Trump's Syria retreat is a massive break from post-9/11 Republicanism
FILE PHOTO: Turkish and U.S. troops meet on the Turkish-Syrian border for a joint U.S.-Turkey patrol in northern Syria, as it is pictured from near the Turkish town of Akcakale, Turkey, September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Turkish and US troops near the Turkish town of Akcakale, near the Syrian border, during joint patrols on September 8. Reuters
Details of Trump's call with Erdogan have been slowly spilling out since Trump announced the US troop withdrawal.

A National Security Council source told Newsweek earlier this month that the president had been "out-negotiated" and "rolled" by Erdogan and had failed to push back when the Turkish leader told him of his military plans.
 

sarad3

wannabe star
Registered
Practical Explanation ( For Example ) :- `1st of all can you tell me every single seconds detail from that time when you born ?? ( i need every seconds detail ?? that what- what you have thought and done on every single second )

can you tell me every single detail of your `1 cheapest Minute Or your whole hour, day, week, month, year or your whole life ??

if you are not able to tell me about this life then what proof do you have that you didn't forget your past ? and that you will not forget this present life in the future ?

that is Fact that Supreme Lord Krishna exists but we posses no such intelligence to understand him.
there is also next life. and i already proved you that no scientist, no politician, no so-called intelligent man in this world is able to understand this Truth. cuz they are imagining. and you cannot imagine what is god, who is god, what is after life etc.
_______
for example :Your father existed before your birth. you cannot say that before your birth your father don,t exists.

So you have to ask from mother, "Who is my father?" And if she says, "This gentleman is your father," then it is all right. It is easy.
Otherwise, if you makes research, "Who is my father?" go on searching for life; you'll never find your father.

( now maybe...maybe you will say that i will search my father from D.N.A, or i will prove it by photo's, or many other thing's which i will get from my mother and prove it that who is my Real father.{ So you have to believe the authority. who is that authority ? she is your mother. you cannot claim of any photo's, D.N.A or many other things without authority ( or ur mother ).

if you will show D.N.A, photo's, and many other proofs from other women then your mother. then what is use of those proofs ??} )

same you have to follow real authority. "Whatever You have spoken, I accept it," Then there is no difficulty. And You are accepted by Devala, Narada, Vyasa, and You are speaking Yourself, and later on, all the acaryas have accepted. Then I'll follow.
I'll have to follow great personalities. The same reason mother says, this gentleman is my father. That's all. Finish business. Where is the necessity of making research? All authorities accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You accept it; then your searching after God is finished.

Why should you waste your time?
_______
all that is you need is to hear from authority ( same like mother ). and i heard this truth from authority " Srila Prabhupada " he is my spiritual master.
im not talking these all things from my own.
___________

in this world no `1 can be Peace full. this is all along Fact.

cuz we all are suffering in this world 4 Problems which are Disease, Old age, Death, and Birth after Birth.

tell me are you really happy ?? you can,t be happy if you will ignore these 4 main problem. then still you will be Forced by Nature.
___________________

if you really want to be happy then follow these 6 Things which are No illicit s.ex, No g.ambling, No d.rugs ( No tea & coffee ), No meat-eating ( No onion & garlic's )

5th thing is whatever you eat `1st offer it to Supreme Lord Krishna. ( if you know it what is Guru parama-para then offer them food not direct Supreme Lord Krishna )

and 6th " Main Thing " is you have to Chant " hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare ".
_______________________________
If your not able to follow these 4 things no illicit s.ex, no g.ambling, no d.rugs, no meat-eating then don,t worry but chanting of this holy name ( Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra ) is very-very and very important.

Chant " hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare " and be happy.

if you still don,t believe on me then chant any other name for 5 Min's and chant this holy name for 5 Min's and you will see effect. i promise you it works And chanting at least 16 rounds ( each round of 108 beads ) of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily.
____________
Here is no Question of Holy Books quotes, Personal Experiences, Faith or Belief. i accept that Sometimes Faith is also Blind. Here is already Practical explanation which already proved that every`1 else in this world is nothing more then Busy Foolish and totally idiot.
_________________________
Source(s):
every `1 is already Blind in this world and if you will follow another Blind then you both will fall in hole. so try to follow that person who have Spiritual Eyes who can Guide you on Actual Right Path. ( my Authority & Guide is my Spiritual Master " Srila Prabhupada " )
_____________
if you want to see Actual Purpose of human life then see this link : ( triple w ( d . o . t ) asitis ( d . o . t ) c . o . m {Bookmark it })
read it complete. ( i promise only readers of this book that they { he/she } will get every single answer which they want to know about why im in this material world, who im, what will happen after this life, what is best thing which will make Human Life Perfect, and what is perfection of Human Life. ) purpose of human life is not to live like animal cuz every`1 at present time doing 4 thing which are sleeping, eating, s.ex & fear. purpose of human life is to become freed from Birth after birth, Old Age, Disease, and Death.
 
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